Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of automation control, and more particularly to emulation of an automation control system.
Designing, installing, operating, and maintaining automation control systems for processes can be complex and expensive operations. In order to facilitate such operations, certain aspects of a process may be simulated and associated automation controls may be utilized with the simulation to perform advanced troubleshooting and refinement of automation system designs and operational procedures. This can traditionally involve acquisition of the actual hardware for the automation control system under consideration. For example, a complex industrial process may be simulated using process simulation programs and these simulations may cooperate with actual automation controllers to assist in modeling the entire system. However, this generally results in substantial related costs.
Accordingly, automation control emulators are often used to avoid the expense and inconvenience associated with utilizing actual automation controllers. An emulator may be defined as a device, module, or software application that can accurately imitate another device. It is now recognized that traditional emulation for automation control is generally limited to requiring a user to create very limited parts of an automation control system. Further, it is now recognized that traditional emulation for an automation control system is functionally constrained and inefficient to maintain. Accordingly, it is now recognized that it is desirable to provide an improved automation control emulator system and method.